


Julian + Dimples

by tkreyesevandiaz



Series: Shadowhunter Headcanons [1]
Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Dimples, Domestic Fluff, Emma would do anything for Julian, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-10 03:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21460426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tkreyesevandiaz/pseuds/tkreyesevandiaz
Summary: Julian's dimples. That's it, that's the fic.
Relationships: Julian Blackthorn & Other(s), Julian Blackthorn/Emma Carstairs
Series: Shadowhunter Headcanons [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547011
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	Julian + Dimples

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This fic was posted on tumblr by me in February, but here it is on AO3!

Whenever Julian would smile widely (and genuinely), twin indentions would appear on both cheeks that would fascinate everyone around him. They quickly learned to discern that those dimples were the clear signs of Julian not being able to control his smile.

Seeing them appear, the rest of his siblings liked to poke their fingers through them to see how deep they really are. One of Dru and Livvy's favourite games were to see if they could push far enough to make their fingers touch. Seeing Julian's face resemble a fish, Tavvy and Ty would start laughing incessantly.

Mark liked to tickle Julian's sides until those dimples appeared because _damn, they are so cute._

One time, Ty was curious as to how much water his dimples can hold. He laid Julian down on his side and used a dropper to add water drop-by-drop in them while Emma laughed at the funny faces Julian made to keep the dimples intact. Livvy sat to the side, tallying how many drops assimilated into the concavity, staring at her brother's face with a calculating look far beyond her years.

After the Dark War, the dimples disappear for a long time. The smile doesn't, but now there's a haunted look that clings to Julian like a second skin. He directs smiles and reassurances at the children, laughs and participates in the right places but his heart is void of all but the burden of responsibility.

Emma watches him for a while, especially as she works to support him. She constantly feels that there's something off in his face, something that she's just not able to pinpoint.

While looking at an old photo of Julian and Mark, it hits her, a faraway memory of two brothers rolling around on the ground.

Julian's dimples.

She hasn't seen his dimples since he was forced to kill his Turned father to protect Ty. Along with the realization comes a sense of swamping shame at having forgotten the clear signs of Julian's uncontrollable happiness.

She resolves herself to bring those dimples back, through a series of events.

First, Emma sets her mission off by sneaking behind him to tickle his sides, but along with his growth spurt, his reactions to being tickled have weakened. Julian looks at her with amusement flashing through his sea-blue eyes as she unsuccessfully digs her fingers into his sides. She smiles sheepishly and runs off to plan her next move.

Dru, Livvy and Ty join the mission by cracking the worst (best) puns they could find on the internet. Dru and Livvy began pranking each other with things like whoopee cushions, to enact a wide smile from their brother. Julian laughs but the shadows in his eyes don't dissipate.

Emma holds a karaoke night where everyone sings horrendously to try to coax a genuine laugh out of him. Julian is pushed onto the stage by Dru and encouraged by Tavvy's clapping. Julian sings out-of-tune on purpose, to meet with the twins' glares because they know he sings better than that. Julian's answering smile is genuine, but the dimples still don't show. A storm of shadows rages in those sea-glass eyes.

Then one day, Emma and Julian decide to go for a walk on the beach. Emma's rambling about random things and doesn't notice the rather big rock in front of her before tripping over it and falling into the soft sand. When she sits up and huffs to remove her disheveled hair from her face, she freezes. Julian is near doubled over with laughter, his eyes lighter than they'd been in _months._ But the thing that catches her eye the most is the now-deepened hollows on the sides of his mouth.

"All this time I'd been trying to get those dimples back on your face and it took me falling into the sand for you to bring those back," she huffed, struggling to stand on the uneven ground. Julian gripped her arm to help stabilize her. His eyes weren't void of all shadow, but they were still twinkling with humour.

His teeth peeked through his wide smile. Emma's heart warmed seeing the twin dents still present.

"No, it took the best Shadowhunter of our generation tripping on a rock to bring them back."

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!


End file.
